Fifth graders at McNamara Elementary School in Van Buren recently started a student council.

The council idea first gained steam at the end of the 2011-2012 school year, when a fourth grader, Jackie Boutilier, saw an opportunity for her fellow students to get involved.

“I saw a lot of things that could help our community,” said Boutilier, 11. “I thought this would be a cool way for our students to get involved.”

Boutilier got the idea from a school she attended in Texas. The school had a student council for fifth graders, and Boutilier saw the advantages of having a council at McNamara, which is in the Baldwinsville School District.

Given an assignment to write a persuasive essay for her English class, Boutilier took the opportunity to pitch the student council idea. The essay was persuasive enough that it ended up on the desk of McNamara principal Jane Nadolski.

“We love it when our students take initiative like this,” Nadolski said. “Jackie turned in a well-written, persuasive essay that really provided the rationale for the council.”

Going to work over the summer to establish a curriculum for the council to follow, Nadolski recruited fifth-grade teachers Laura Manton and Kristin Zimmer, as well as school social worker Jeff Seltzer.

“We sat down with Jackie and asked her what she would like to see in the council,” Zimmer said.

Working with Boutilier they came up with a mission statement for their students.
1. Build a partnership between the school and community with service.
2. Build awareness, respect and value for all people.
3. Develop and promote leadership abilities.

They quickly worked together to get everything in place for the beginning of this school year, and by October they were up and running.

The teachers asked for a yearlong commitment from students, which included giving up their recess so the council had a time to meet.

“Once the kids agreed to join for the year, they weren’t allowed to back out,”
Zimmer said. “We are glad to say around 70 of our 120 fifth-graders signed up.”

Boutilier was particularly interested in reaching out to the community, something Seltzer was able to provide.

Seltzer reached out and was able to get the council the opportunity to work with groups like Meals on Wheels and the Baldwinsville Volunteer center.

“With the meals on wheels we made a lot of cards for people who receive food,” Seltzer said. “A lot of these people are shut-ins, with minimal contact. We made cards with personal messages for them and the meals on wheels volunteers gave them to those they felt needed one.”

The council also led a canned goods drive to benefit the Baldwinsville Christmas Bureau, which is run by the Baldwinsville Volunteer center.

“We just received a letter from the Volunteer center,” Manton said. “We were able to help feed over 100 families.”

They’ve also worked extensively with the O’Brien Road Apartments senior living community, which is just down the road from McNamara, which is at 7344 O’Brien Road. The seniors come over to the school once a month to play games and have juice and cookies with the fifth graders.

Future events include making Valentine’s Day cards for the children receiving treatment at the Golisano Children’s Hospital, a planned Earth Day cleanup in April and volunteering for Paige’s Butterfly Run later in the school year.

“Their eyes light up when they do good things,” Manton said. “It’s nice to see kids aware of the community and helping others.”